“Most of their activities are illegal. Some are legit, but the majority aren’t.”
Her mind flashed back to the pictures of the dead bodies on the corkboard, and she shivered. “He—did he hurt people?”
He rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed. “Yeah, he hurt people.”
She gripped her fingers tighter, terrified to ask the next question, but she needed to know. “Killed them?”
He steamed out a long breath. “Don’t make me hurt you this way.”
She wanted to hear him say what she couldn’t allow herself to believe. “Did my dad kill people?”
He moved, leaning his forearms on the granite so they were eye-level as they looked at each other. “Yes.”
She bit her bottom lip and stared at her hands, willing herself not to cry. How was this happening? How would anything ever feel right again? “He read me bedtime stories and put Hello Kitty Band-Aids on my skinned knees.”
“You have to understand that in the mafia, it’s kill or be killed. Literally, Bella. If the boss orders a hit and you don’t comply, you die.”
Her gaze flew to his. “You’re defending him?”
“No. I want you to recognize that he had no choice. The lifestyle’s violent—incredibly dangerous.”
“There’s always a choice.”
He shook his head. “Not in this. He didn’t take pleasure in it. Not the way his brother, Alfeo, did. Your dad did what was necessary to survive. Alfeo took dozens of lives without blinking an eye.”
“Where is he? Alfeo?”
“In prison. For now. He’s getting out next month. That’s why Vinny and I have been working together. We’re trying to make sure he stays there. He committed a lot of crimes he never paid for. He’s a very dangerous man, Bella. Your father’s been hiding from him for years.”
“If Dad was so powerful, why is he hiding?”
“Because he turned state’s evidence against the family.”
“The Witness Protection Program?”
Reed nodded. “He and Alfeo had been ordered to pull off a hit on a capo who betrayed Patrizio. The capo wasn’t sharing his full cut of the profits, which is pretty much a death sentence. To make matters worse, he was trying to hide. One night, they spotted him driving by and shot into the car. What your dad didn’t know at the time was that the capo’s entire family was with him—his pregnant wife and toddler.”
She closed her eyes as she listened to a story that was so horribly insane, it sounded as if Reed were making it up. “Oh, God.”
“When your dad realized what was going on, he ran over, wanting to help. The capo’s wife was still alive. Elena. She had been a good friend of your dad’s. As teenagers, they’d worked together at the restaurant your grandfather owned. She asked him for help—was begging him. He opened the door to get her out, and Alfeo walked over and shot her dead.”
Tears trailed down her cheeks as she imagined the terror Elena must have suffered. The horror Dad must have felt. “A monster.”
Reed nodded. “A monster. Vinny had enough after that. The mafia life is supposed to be about honor and respect. For the most part, the only people who are supposed to die are the ones who participate in it, but that didn’t happen that night, so he decided he was finished.”
“And now Alfeo wants my dad dead?”
“There’s a half-million-dollar contract out on his head to this day.”
She frowned as so many things finally made sense. “That’s why Dad left us—why he wanted me to leave when I knocked on his door in Reseda.”
“There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for you. Even if it meant walking away to keep you safe.”
She sat up abruptly as she realized that they’d gravitated closer together, both of them leaning farther across the counter—that she’d nearly reached for his hand. “And you knew all along.”
“I did.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“No.”
She stared at him, blinking as her eyes welled with fresh tears. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to protect you from all of this. I wanted you to be able to remember your dad differently than how you will now.”
She dropped her gaze. “You had no right to decide for me.”
“I had every right, Bella, because now the burden belongs to you too.” He reached over and lifted her chin, holding her jaw in his hand so she had no choice but to look at him. “Don’t you understand that you can never tell anyone about this? You can never confide in Abby or Wren or Julie, because your father’s secrets will put them in danger. Just knowing puts you in danger.”
Fear rushed into her heart as he spoke. “What do you mean?”
He let her go and paced away, then back. “Your father took every precaution possible to keep you safe, but there are rumors within the organization that Nicoli has a child. You’re a potential target.”
Her pulse pounded faster. “Is that why you’re with me?”
“I’m with you because I love you, Bella.”
She shook her head as her breath shuddered in and out. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“I do.”
She turned away. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.” She dashed at one tear, then two, fighting to keep her composure. She’d been doing so well; she wasn’t about to lose it now.
He walked around to her side, standing in front of her. “I love you, Bella. You can believe that.”
“Who are you?”
“The same guy who woke up next to you this morning.”
She shook her head as she thought of him sitting in Dad’s room with Joey and Skylar. “Until today, I didn’t realize that there’s a whole different side to you that I don’t know.”
He got down on his knees in front of her, resting his hands on the sides of her stool. “You know the best parts of me—who I am when I’m with you. That’s who I want to be.”
“I don’t want to know only the best parts of you. I need to know all of you.” She fisted her hands on her thighs, afraid that she might touch him. “I’ve told you about my past. I have no secrets. You can’t say the same thing.”
“There are things I’ll never be able to tell you—for your safety and mine.”
She sniffled. “So tell me what you can.”
“All right. Where do you want me to start?”
“Wherever you want.”
He took a deep breath. “I’ll start with my career, I guess.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“I worked on the Special Organized Crime Unit for the majority of my career with NYPD. For years, Joey and I did deep cover, trying to find ways to infiltrate and dismantle the Caparelli organization the way RICO decimated the other families. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to keep Alfeo in his cell—to make him pay for everything he’s ever done. I still do.”
“Why is Alfeo so important to you?”
Clenching his jaw, he looked at the floor.
“Why?” she asked again, terribly afraid she wasn’t going to like his answer.
“The Caparellis killed my family: my father, grandfather, my Uncle Mason.”
She rushed to her feet at the shock of his words. “They killed your family?”
“Shot all three of them. The cops could never prove it—or wouldn’t, but I know. I’m positive.”
She pushed his arm off the stool and stepped away, turning her back on him as she pressed her face into her hands and burst into tears. Every time she thought she’d heard the worst, there was something far more terrible to comprehend.
He stood behind her, settling his palms on her shoulders.
She whirled. “My family killed your family?”
“I don’t think of those people as your family.”
“I just—I can’t… If the cops couldn’t figure it out, how do you know?”
He shrugged. “I just do.”
“My God.” She walked to the wall, sagging against it as she stared at his sc
ars. “They almost killed you too.”
He shoved his hand through his hair as he paced. “Joey and I were working with a team member who was playing both sides. At the time we had no idea. We were finally starting to make our way up the chain in the organization. We’d just slipped one of the Caparelli capos some information that benefited the organization—”
She gaped. “You helped them?”
“We needed their absolute trust. You can’t do the type of job Joe and I did without it. Sometimes the end justifies the means.”
Was that what his relationship with her had been about? She couldn’t help but wonder as his deceptions took on an entirely different depth. “Whatever it takes to exact your revenge?”
His eyes sharpened on hers. “Not always. There are some lines I can never—would never cross.”
She looked down, not so sure she believed that.
He rushed over to her. “Don’t go there, Bella.”
What good did it do to travel down that road—to add more pain to an already agonizing situation? “Tell me how you and Joey got shot.”
He held her gaze in the strained silence.
“I need to know.”
“Joe and I were invited to a big Fourth of July party put on by one of the mafia’s higher-ups. The men we were working with were grateful for our tip. After the fireworks, we were ushered into cars and driven to a warehouse. Joey and I thought we were going to see a new illegal site they were operating, but they shot us instead. Joey got the worst of it—four bullets. Two to the leg and one to his shoulder and chest.”
Her stomach churned as she glanced at his ugly wounds again. The shot to his chest had nearly been fatal. “What happened to the men who brought you there?”
“Joe got one of them on his way down, and I killed the other three. I’m not sorry. Joey was bleeding out on me, and I wasn’t in great shape either. We had backup down the road. They got us to the hospital in time. We both had close calls, but we were lucky enough to make full recoveries.”
She nodded, not quite sure what to think. He’d killed three men to save himself and his best friend. How could she fault him that?
“While I was lying in the hospital, healing, I found out our unit was being shut down. Anything that was left to be dealt with was going to be handed over to the FBI.”
“Skylar.”
He nodded. “Skylar. She’d spent time working in Violent Crimes—switched over to the Organized Crime Division a few years ago. We worked together a lot.” He sighed. “In many ways, that night was a blessing in disguise. I realized I didn’t want to play the game anymore. I’d almost lost my life and I wanted out. The need for revenge was eating me up—destroying me slowly—so I quit and came out to LA. Jerrod and Shane introduced me to Ethan, and I started working for him. I stayed with Mom and Aunt Bonnie for a while after I got back from my training in Europe. I thought I was going to go insane.” He smiled absently. “So I got this place.”
“You didn’t know who I was when you moved in?”
“No.” His gaze sharpened on hers again. “I had no idea. I was actually on the phone with Joey when I found Lucy in my living room. He’d called to tell me he overheard one of the guys from WITSEC talking about aliases Nicoli Caparelli was supposed to have used. I did some looking into it for him and eventually I found your father—right around the same time you and I started hanging around together.”
She swallowed as they held each other’s stare. “You—you used me.”
He clenched his jaw. “From the moment I saw you, I was attracted to you. How could I not be? Look at you, Bella. You’re gorgeous. But then you invited me over for dinner and a walk on the beach and cut my hair.” He smiled again. “You intrigued me even when I didn’t want to be. There’s something about you—so real and warm. Everything I needed.”
She didn’t want to hear his pretty words—couldn’t take it. “You used me.”
“I started spending more time with you because I wanted to know what you knew about your father’s old life.”
“Nothing.”
“I figured that out eventually. I told Joey I had my doubts as my feelings for you started growing. Something changed between us the night of Julie and Chase’s wedding. When we were dancing. Do you remember?”
“Yes,” she said quietly, looking away.
“I remember desperately wishing things were different. I just wanted to be with you without all of the complications. Not long after that, we slept together. I told Joey I was done with the whole thing. Then he took the pictures of you with Dino and Matty in New York.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Matty’s your cousin, Bella. Alfeo’s son. He currently runs the Caparelli organization until Alfeo gets out of prison.”
Her eyes went huge as she digested the next surprise. “What?”
“The photos were so damning. I tried to deny it—wanted to so badly, Bella, but I started thinking you were involved after all—”
Her breath shuddered in and out. “I didn’t even know who he was until just now.”
“I know. But I didn’t then. After I met your dad, he cleared things up for me real fast. We started working together to keep Alfeo where he belongs so he can’t ever hurt you.”
“So Mr. Asante was part of the crime family?”
“Yeah.”
“What about Luisa?”
“I don’t know what she knows—probably not much.”
She stared at the floor for a long time as she absorbed the washes of anger and betrayal—the constant lies. “Am I supposed to be grateful for all of this?”
“No.”
She met his gaze. “How am I supposed to handle this? Am I supposed to take your hand, walk next door with you, and pretend this isn’t happening?”
He rubbed at his jaw. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You’ve lied to me—”
“Bella—”
“You’ve lied to me,” her voice broke. “Whatever your reasons, you’ve lied.”
“I did. Over and over again, and I fucking hated it.”
Her eyes watered as she heard the agony in his voice. “This life I thought we were building—”
He took her hand, cupping it between both of his. “It’s still here.”
She broke down and quickly shored herself back up. “How can you say that? This isn’t real. Our whole foundation is a series of deceptions. You took my dying father to New York and I had no idea.”
“We had to go.”
“You made a fool out of me.”
“Bella—”
“How do you expect for me to look at you and believe anything you say? I can’t live like this. I can’t wonder if my partner is looking me in the eyes and lying. Because you’ve done that, Reed. All this time, you’ve done exactly that.”
He pressed her fingers to his lips. “But I don’t have to anymore. Skylar’s taking everything we have to the DA and grand jury. My part in this is mostly over.” He stepped closer. “I want us to be together.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. We can’t.”
He cupped her cheeks. “Please don’t walk away from what we have.”
She tried to harden her heart, even as it shattered yet again. “What do we have, Reed?”
He stroked her skin. “I love you. You love me.”
“Unfortunately, I do love you. But I won’t. Eventually I won’t.”
He settled his forehead against hers—one of his usual tender gestures, and she started crying. “Bella, please.”
Lucy walked down the stairs.
Bella eased him back with a push to his chest. “I’ll be at work all day tomorrow. You can come pick up your stuff and leave the key on the table.” She dashed at the tears on her cheeks. “This is over.”
“Don’t leave it like this.”
More tears fell as she sucked in several shaky breaths, wanting to stay here with him as much as she hoped never to see him again. “I want you to
stay away from me. No knocks on my door. No phone calls or texts. You go your way and I go mine.”
He held her gaze another moment and stepped back. “Okay.”
She turned toward the door and opened it. “Lucy, come on.”
Lucy stayed where she was between them and whined.
“Come on, Lucy,” she choked out.
Lucy followed, and Bella shut the door behind her without looking back.
~~~~
Reed’s phone rang in the dark while he sat at his desk, holding a glass of scotch in his hand. He’d already knocked back a solid three fingers, but alcohol never soothed him the way boxing did. The ringing stopped and started again—once, twice, three times. He picked it up, staring at Skylar’s name on the screen, and seriously contemplated chucking the damn thing out the window. “What?” he answered instead.
“We landed at four thirty.”
He sat back in his uncomfortable chair. “Great.”
“The DA was waiting for us.”
He sipped at his drink and set it down. Getting lit wasn’t going to solve his problems, especially when he had to go to work in four hours. “Okay.”
“He wanted the tape—brought me back to his office so he could take a look at the footage.”
He scrubbed at his jaw. “You needed to tell me this in the middle of the night?”
“I didn’t get a chance to edit, Reed. Bella’s on the tape. The prosecution knows who she is.”
He rushed to his feet. “What?” He jammed his fingers through his hair and walked to his bed and back. “What the fuck, Skylar? Why didn’t you turn the damn thing off?”
“She took us all by surprise. In the moment, I was thinking more about you getting a chance to explain than hitting the off button.”
He steamed out a breath. “Damn it.”
“The footage is going into a vault. His copy and mine are encrypted. It’s for his eyes only.”
“But he knows. No one was supposed to know.”
“Unfortunately, he does, but I made sure to play the scene back—made sure he understood that she knew nothing about any of this. Has never had anything to do with the Caparellis. For now, I think we’re good.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way.”
“Did you track her down?”
Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series Page 50